


Of Things Lost in Fractured and Prime Dimensions

by ChestnutMochi (orphan_account)



Category: Tales of Xillia
Genre: M/M, badly written feels, how do you write, what is this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-05
Updated: 2014-11-05
Packaged: 2018-02-24 02:15:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2564594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ChestnutMochi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their love, their experiences, all of it was real. </p><p>But when the Prime version of yourselves arrives to destroy your dimension, what then?</p><p>They themselves may not be real, but their love carries on. [DISCONTINUED]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Things Lost in Fractured and Prime Dimensions

**Author's Note:**

> A two-shot drabble written on a whim, badly written feels incoming, enjoy.
> 
> EDIT 7/28/15: Due to life problems, I have decided that the second chapter won't be written. I apologize to anyone that was waiting, but hopefully you'll be satisfied with this one chapter. It could be taken as a stand-alone anyway. Thanks!

“ _I-I love you..!”_

Those were not the words Ludger had expected to hear when Jude had decided to pay him a visit in Trigleph. It wasn’t the words Jude had expected to blurt out either, and truth be told, he had no idea why he said them. But it was too late to take them back now.

“….” Both males remained silent as they stood in Ludger’s kitchen, the pot of stew on the cook top beginning to boil over, though neither of them noticed. Jude balled his hands up into fists, rolling them up so tightly that he feared he would draw blood, his eyes were shut tight, and his face probably looked like a ripe tomato right about now; the heat reaching to the tips of his ears.

“..!” He was still trembling in fear of rejection when he felt his body being pulled into a warm, sturdy build, arms wrapping around his shoulders as his face was smothered into the other's muscular chest. It wasn’t long before he heard the soft murmur of, “ _I love you too,”_ in his ear. Tears dotted at the corners of his eyes. With trembling arms, he reached around to give Ludger a hug, leaning into the embrace.

They stayed like that for awhile, enjoying each other's warmth… until they smelled something burning. The pot of stew had long since boiled over and sat there sizzling on the stove, creating a dried, bubbling, burnt crust on the metal surface.

Luckily, they had managed to salvage the stew that hadn’t burned, and turned it into dinner. Jude and Ludger sat alone at the table, Rowen and Elize having taken out Elle on a shopping spree in Marksburg. Neither of them talked much during dinner, creating a rather awkward atmosphere, but they were both lost in their own thoughts, replaying the recently-transpired events over and over again in their head.

Jude stood up, his chair making a rather loud screech on the tile floor. Both men winced at the noise, “Sorry,” Jude apologized, “Err, I’ll take the couch okay? And I’ll just wash the dishes…” The researcher moved to take both of their empty plates and started walking back to the kitchen when Ludger spoke up.

“N-No, you should take the bed…” Jude froze in his tracks, before promptly turning back on his heel to reply.

“B-But I wouldn’t want to impose…” He fidgeted nervously, tightly clutching the dishes in his hands, he hurriedly moved to place them in the sink to start washing them so that Ludger wouldn’t see the blush creeping up on his face. Sleeping in Ludger’s bed, with his scent on the sheets… The dishes clattered in the sink as Jude scrubbed at them furiously, embarrassed at his sudden intimate thoughts about the man’s bed.

“Surely you’re tired from your research, aren’t you? You look like you haven’t slept in days…” The Spirius employee replied, Jude winced, could he really tell that easily? Sure, he had missed a few days worth of sleep, but that was because he had been convinced he was close to a breakthrough in spyrites!…Though it had turned out to be the complete opposite. Now the thought of sleeping in a soft, warm bed made his eyelids droop.

“Fine…” Jude surrendered, his tiredness making him stumble to Ludger’s bedroom rather awkwardly, “But only if you come in with me.” The words tumbled out of Jude’s mouth before he realized it, he covered his mouth in shock, turning to look at Ludger, only to see the other… nod?!

“W-Wait Ludger, I didn’t mean it!” Jude waved his arms furiously, trying to block the other man from entering the room, Ludger raised one eyebrow in confusion and stepped to the side to walk around Jude, only for the younger to step that way as well, effectively blocking his path. Ludger tried to quickly step to the other side to go around, but Jude was faster.

And so began a heated side-stepping contest between a furiously blushing Jude and a clueless Ludger, with Jude succeeding in blocking Ludger each time.

Ludger sighed in exasperation, before an idea came into his head, almost as if someone had turned on a lightbulb in his mind. With a smirk, he advanced directly towards the red Jude, confusing the younger. He wrapped his arms around Jude’s slim waist and pulled him in, his face awfully close to the younger’s. Jude squirmed in his grasp, finally realizing what was going on, he became redder than he thought was possible, “L-Ludger wait, I-” He was cut off as Ludger pulled him in for a kiss, tenderly pressing his lips against Jude’s.

Jude looked into Ludger’s eyes for a moment, admiring the bright green surrounded by the band of concentric gold before his own fluttered shut to take in more of the warm soft sensation touching his lips.

They stayed until they couldn’t hold their breath anymore, breaking apart with a pant. Jude touched his lips absentmindedly, his first kiss… Not exactly how he thought it would have felt, but it was a lot better than he had expected it to be.

The blush on his cheeks still raged on, but was considerably less… reddish. Ludger playfully ruffled Jude’s messy mop of hair, “Now let me into my bedroom, sleepyhead.” Jude shuffled out of the way, allowing Ludger to lie down first before settling in next to him, lying back to back.

Sleep came more quickly than Jude would have thought, his consciousness drifting away the moment he felt a pair of strong, warm arms wrapping around his slender frame.

There was a surprise in store for Rowen, Elize, and Elle when they arrived a few hours later, with Rowen practically up to his chin in shopping bags, his inner-gentleman of course led him to indulge the girls in whatever trinkets they wished to have, even if it meant using a bit of the taxpayer’s money.

“Where’s Ludger and Jude? Weren’t they here when we left?” Elle questioned, there was no sign of the two in the living room, besides Jude’s lab coat left hanging on the coat hanger, a sign that the researcher was still there at all.

“Why don’t you go check the rooms, Elle?” Elize suggested, “I’ll go help Rowen with the bags, he looks like he could use some.” She added, gesturing at Rowen, who was struggling with his load.

“I-Indeed, this old man could use some help, Miss Elize. I’m afraid my body is not quite how it used to be.” Rowen said, sighing in relief as Elize took some of bags from his arms, Teepo hovered above them, carrying a mini-bag of his own.

They had just finished putting away the bags when they heard a shocked squeak come from Elle, coming from the direction of… Ludger’s bedroom? Nevertheless, the three (including Teepo, of course) rushed to the room, making shocked noises of their own when they saw the scene inside.

Jude and Ludger were lying together in the bed, asleep. Ludger had Jude in his arms, the other snuggled into his chest with a small smile on his face.

“Oh? It appears that we have stumbled upon something most interesting, Miss Elize.”

“ _I-Interesting?!_ Er, indeed, Rowen!”

“So… did they do…  _it?_ ”

“E-Elle! Where did you learn that from?!”

“…Alvin told me, why?”

“Miss Elize, it appears that we have some business to take care of, have a good night, Miss Elle.”

“Coming!”

“Ohh, little buddy’s sure in for it this time!”

“Wait! Where are you guys going? We just got back!”

* * *

 “ _Leia, look at Ludger and Jude!” Elle called, pointing at the two men who had fallen asleep at the other side of the cave wall. Their faces were illuminated in the flickering flames of the fire, casting various shadows over their sleeping expressions._

_The party had decided to take shelter in a cave after the night sky started to let out a torrent of rain across the field of Rusalle Highroad, nearly drenching them in their hurried dash. After a quiet dinner of mabo curry, the party fell asleep._

_Well, most of them seeing as how Elle practically begged Leia to tell her one of the most interesting stories she ever covered. It was now shortly after the story, involving pregnant horses and exploding toaster ovens, that Elle noticed Ludger and Jude at the other side of the cave wall._

_Jude had fallen asleep close to Ludger and was now resting his head on the other’s shoulder, small snores coming from his slightly open mouth as his raven bangs fell into his closed eyes. Ludger himself had ended up leaning on Jude in return, his head resting on the researcher’s. To strangers, they may have looked like a young couple._

_'Isn't that the most interesting position? I can see the headline now: Dr. Mathis Falls for Spirius Employee? Love Life Revealed!' Leia couldn't help herself as those thoughts ran through her head, her hand instinctively reached for the pen and notepad in her pocket before she shook her head furiously, almost knocking off her precious reporter's hat._

_'No no no! I am just a friend around them, I am just a friend around them, not a reporter, just a friend.' Repeating that thought as though it were a chant, Leia's hand slowly backed away from her pocket, groping the air for something to clutch. Elle watched the reporter's actions curiously, Jude's friends were really something. Though, if anything, they sure were interesting to be around!_

_She gave a small shrug before focusing back on her task at hand and crawled over to Ludger’s item bag, her hands and knees deftly avoiding the other sleeping bodies in the cave. With great effort, she slowly unzipped the giant zipper on the bag, the sound ricocheting like millions of tiny bullets hitting the walls of the cave._

_Elle flinched, quickly turning around to see if anybody had woken up. Her body relaxed when she saw everybody’s chests rise and fall in the rhythm of deep sleep. Turning back to the bag, she stuck a hand inside, rummaging around until she felt something very… familiar._

“ _Elle, what are you doing?” Leia whispered, the reporter was by the young girl’s side now, clutching a pillow as though to smother anyone who woke up. Elle looked at her, her hand still in the bag clutching the item, before her mouth broke out into a wide, mischievous grin that clearly meant trouble._

_With that huge grin on her face, she proceeded to hand a black marker of some sort to Leia, holding of her own. She then gestured for Leia to come closer, which the reporter did, in an awkward crab crawling fashion across the sandy cave floor._

_Turning towards the sleeping Jude and Ludger in front of them, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen, she turned towards Leia and with the concentric gold band of her green eyes gleaming in the light of the fire, she said, “I’m making art.”_

_Poor Jude and Ludger never knew what happened to them._

“ _Ludger, it’s not that bad. I-I mean, the Sunscreen Ranger designs look nice on your tie and suspenders!”_

“ _Just like that colored in collar on your neck that says, ‘Property of Milla Maxwell?’ Nice try, Jude.”_

* * *

There were no headlines that popped up in Leia’s head when she stumbled upon Ludger and Jude kissing, the only thing she could hear, aside from the kissing noises, was the sound of her heart shattering into pieces.

She clutched her notepad to her chest, as if holding onto it for dear life. It felt like her chest was being turned into ice, and then being broken, splintering her heart. Tears welled up in her eyes, and the ground grew blurry in front of her.

For the first time she became a reporter, she cursed her curiosity. This was the one time that she could have done without it. Yes, it was pretty suspicious when suddenly Jude and Ludger had suddenly started spending a  _lot_ more time together. Yes, it was rather tempting to follow them once the party had gone their separate ways for the day. But she resisted, because there was a certain moral code she followed. And that was to leave her friends to their own devices, unless something was seriously wrong.

So why was it different this time?

Why did she follow them down to this alley? In her mind, in her  _soul_ , she had known. She knew ever since she had first seen him come back with an injured Milla in Le Ronde. But, but, this was  _Ludger_! It wasn’t any use, her heart hurt like it never had before, like it was being torn out of her chest, inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter. The back of her throat burned, and the tears were threatening to spill out of her eyelids.

Somehow, she thought, the truth had been more devastating than she ever thought it would.

So she ran, the spilled tears flying out behind her like sparking river droplets. In a way, the tears behind her were part of a river.

The river of her broken heart.

* * *

“DODA here, we have detected a new fractured dimension. The coordinates of the rift is located in Rusalle Highroad. We believe that this dimension has a high probability of containing a Waymarker. Please head there at your earliest convenience.” The GHS clicked, the dial tone cutting off Vera’s voice before Ludger closed it with a sigh. Turning to Jude with apologetic eyes, he waved the device, signaling the fact that they had work to do.

Jude gave a small smile before opening his own GHS, “I’ll see if any of the others are free.” The air was filled with the beeps from Jude’s GHS, along with the rattling of pots and pans as Ludger put the ingredients for the now-delayed dinner away.

Ludger had just finished putting away all of the utensils when he heard a sigh come from the researcher, “None of them are free at the moment.” He turned around to look at Jude, who was staring at the GHS in his hand dejectedly. “Do you want to wait a bit? She  _did_ say at our earliest convenience, so…” Jude gestured towards Ludger’s GHS, and flopped down into a chair.

Ludger thought about it for a moment, the fractured dimension sure wasn’t going anywhere. But, if there was a Waymarker, then Julius would most likely be heading there, too, with his own off-the-record means. If they encounter him, then maybe he can finally obtain some answers, even just one…

“I think we can handle a fractured dimension by ourselves just this once.”

* * *

“Oomph!” Jude let out a small grunt of protest when Ludger shoved him into a nearby bush, the injured Chirpee taking one last look at them before running away. Unbeknownst to him, Ludger had just spotted the Fractured Jude of this dimension.

“Ludger!” The Fractured Jude jogged towards him, his red bracers gleaming in the sunlight. He took no notice of the injured Chirpee frantically sprinting past him, only stopping when he reached Ludger.

“A-Are you okay? When you suddenly went off by yourself I just…” He panted and rested his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Ludger just smiled, gesturing towards the Chirpee that had vanished into the woods.

Fractured Jude looked behind him, before sighing in relief, “O-Oh, I see. Well,” He stood up and brushed himself off before grabbing Ludger’s suspenders and pulling him into a quick kiss. Ludger’s eyes widened at the action, and Prime Jude almost jumped out of the bush he was in, but managed to restrain himself, readying his bracers. What was with this dimension’s Jude?

After a few moments, Fractured Jude pulled away, a light blush on his cheeks, he looked at Ludger and raised an eyebrow, “Why do you look so surprised?” He asked, “You always do that to me…” He muttered to himself, adjusting the bracers on his hands. Ludger couldn’t help it when his heart did a little flip-flop, this dimension’s Ludger sure was lucky.

But that didn’t make the job any easier.

“Jude.” Ludger said, it was one word that caused Fractured Jude to look up at him curiously and for Prime Jude to burst out of the bushes. His hair and clothes were slightly ruffled and covered with a few leaves, but his amber orbs gleamed dangerously, his bracers shining like polished armor in the bright sunlight.

It was then that a purple flash emitted itself from Fractured Jude’s chest. Unlike the Chirpee however, this did not go unnoticed. Fractured Jude looked down at himself, and gasped, his eyes- now Ludger noticed that they were green- looked,  _devastated._

Memories flashed through Fractured Jude’s mind, of that fateful confession, of Ludger kissing him in the alleyway, of Ludger pulling a blanket over him and a pillow under his head when he had fallen asleep at his desk, of them shyly holding hands for the first time while buying groceries, the way that Ludger had buried his head in his chest after what happened on the Pelume, the warmth that he had found sleeping beside him most mornings.

All of those small moments and memories that Fractured Jude treasured,  _fake._

“T-This was a Fractured Dimension, all along..?” Ludger’s grip on his short swords tightened, Fractured or not, he hated seeing one of his friends like this. This wasn’t going to be easy, he knew, but he never imagined it would be this difficult, either. He opened to his mouth to apologize, to say  _something._

“I’m sorry.” Ludger and Prime Jude looked at Fractured Jude in surprise, Ludger’s mouth closing shut. Wasn’t it supposed to be  _him_ apologizing? “But, I can’t let you defeat me.” Fractured Jude had obviously recovered from the shock as he looked up at them, his green eyes filled with a fierce determination.

“I know how important it is to destroy Fractured Dimensions. I know why you have to do it, and I know that you’re searching for answers right now,  _Ludger._ ” The said man visibly winced at how Fractured Jude had practically spat his name out in an ice cold tone. Filled with none of the kindness that Prime Jude had shown him on many occasions.

“I know that what I’m doing is selfish. But, as this dimension’s Divergence Catalyst, no,  _especially_ as this dimension’s Divergence Catalyst. I cannot allow you to destroy this dimension, not this time. I just want to live happily, with  _my_ Ludger.” His voice broke saying ‘my Ludger’, but the message was clear enough to Prime Ludger and Jude.

He wasn’t going down without a fight.

Prime Ludger and Jude were already in their fighting stances when Fractured Jude lunged at them, his green eyes blazing with desperation. He knew that he was most likely going to lose this fight. But right now, that didn’t matter, what mattered was saving this Fractured Dimension, to  _kill_ the Prime Dimension’s version of Ludger and himself.

The fight didn’t last long. Even if he was a Divergence Catalyst, Fractured Jude was still outnumbered, and needless to say, Prime Ludger and Jude took him down within minutes. A bright flash surrounded Ludger as he transformed, his lance positioned above the Fractured Jude’s heart.

The Fractured Jude coughed, his body covered with bludgeons and slices from the duo’s weapons. All he could see was the blue sky above him, the white clouds rolling away. The wind caressed his cheek, as if telling him that everything would be alright, but nothing was going to be alright. In less than a moment, this would all be gone, destroyed.

As would he and Ludger.

“L-Ludger, I’m sorry…” With a final cough, the Fractured Jude closed his eyes, prepared to meet his end. Prime Jude nodded, and Ludger set to bring down his Lance, to destroy the dimension once and for all.

It was then that the Fractured Ludger emerged from the forest. He opened his mouth to scream, to cry, to tell the Prime Ludger to stop, but it was too late. The lance had already been driven deep into Fractured Jude’s heart. A spiral of purple and black light emerged from the corpse, before the world came to its end.

His silent screams were louder than the sound of the world shattering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...ok who dares me to write the story about the pregnant horses and exploding toaster ovens


End file.
